Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Newcastle may well have bought themselves some breathing space in the battle to beat the drop this season after a win against Stoke on New Years Day but although they currently lie 13th in the table it is still desperately tight at the bottom at the moment.
Today they play host to a Swansea side who are at the foot of the table and are in danger of being cast adrift if they do not win later this afternoon, it is most definitely a must win game for both sides but you get the feeling that Carlos Carvalhal needs the three points just that little bit more.
Rafa Benitez may well be frustrated in the transfer market this month with an apparent lack of funds available to him right now, a situation that is obviously not being helped by the fact that the sale of the club by owner Mike Ashley continues to stall.
At least the frustration on the pitch would have eased at the beginning of January when they traveled to Stoke and earned a vital win that would have heaped even more pressure on the now former Stoke manager Mark Hughes, a win that saw the Potters finish the game week in the bottom three.
But with just two points between Newcastle and the relegation zone then they will be fully aware that they need to continue to put to wins on the board otherwise they could just as easily be straight back in the mire and fighting for the lives in the top flight.
Not only that but if the money that Rafa Benitez is almost pleading for does not come in his direction then they will be at a serious disadvantage as to the strength of their squad in comparison to the teams around them, so if they are to manage to beat the drop with the players they have then they are going to have to do it the hard way.
If Swansea are to beat the drop they are going to have an even more difficult task, there are four points separating them and safety at present which does not seem a lot in the grand scheme of things but the fact that they have only won four games and scored 13 goals in the league this season speaks volumes.
Carlos Carvalhal has been given the task of trying to put out this particular fire and his first two league outings have seen some positives, especially the winning start against Watford when a late turnaround earned a dramatic three points at Vicarage Road.
You could also argue that they were unlucky not to get anything out of the game against Tottenham on Janaury 2nd, that said had they have snatched an unlikely draw then that would have been slightly harsh on Mauricio Pochettino’s men who dominated for large swathes of the game.
Last weekend saw a brief respite from the cut and thrust of the Premier League as Swansea were paired with Wolves in the F.A. Cup and they were held to a draw by the runaway EFL Championship leaders, the one thing Carlos Carvalhal needs right now though is another distraction in the way of a replay in midweek.
Whisper it quietly but should they lose to Wolves then at least it will give them full focus on the task in hand, that may well be a sad indictment of where the F.A. Cup stands in this day and age but with so many millions of pounds at stake in terms of survival can you really blame them.
Newcastle will be boosted by a win over Stoke and they carried that over to last weekend with a comfortable cup win over Luton. The hope if not the expectation will be that they can make it three wins in a row and pull further clear of the relegation zone.
Swansea fans will be hoping for the new manager lift to pick up pace and should they manage to get a point then it would be a better one for them than it would Newcastle. The Swans need to start putting results on the board and I have a feeling that they will manage to earn a draw on Tyneside.
